As Hannah watched, mesmerized and pulled by the performance, the Witch and the Vampire exchanged silent looks. Each one of them dared to convey a multitude of unspoken words with only their eyes until it ended.

It didn’t take too long for Witch Agatha who now wore a rueful smile to speak wearily.

“The end of the world… I forget that’s how humans see it.”

It was audible enough for their intended recipient to receive it. Despite the music in the background, Hannah heard Agatha’s words, so she glanced back over her shoulders and tried not to frown. Why did this Witch suddenly say that?

How was even Hannah supposed to react to that?

As the adrenaline she experienced finally waned and she caught her breath here, Hannah’s brain seemed to at long last catch up to her sudden predicament. She wasn’t sure why she initially thought it was a wonderful decision to come into an establishment belonging to dangerous people.

…Well, it was the sight of functioning electricity that drew her in, but was this really a good call? It wasn’t like Hannah was bored enough to risk her life, or didn’t have the leisurely activity of managing her own life while out in the apocalypse, but this?

This was actually new enough for her.

Was her own brain simply charged with dopamine for wanting to come in here? All of her actions so far had been led by the fact that it was different. The black cat with green eyes was different. It wasn’t every day, or night, that you met creatures of the night and survived an encounter with them because they were different from what others claimed or told her.

Hannah may have had terrible luck, but this was her best chance so far.

Choosing between arriving at a ‘sanctuary’ filled with awful leaders that forced its helpless residents into unsavory roles and also decided who deserved to live and die, aka the worst of humanity, over what seemed to be the best representation of night creatures so far?

She could have made less than better choices.

“Human.” Louis snapped his fingers.

“A-ah, brain fart,” Hannah said.

He wrinkled his nose but then motioned to a more closed-off area with its own fancy shimmery red curtains separating it from the rest. It was something Hannah didn’t catch at once in her first survey of the area. The translucent curtains pulled back slightly with an invisible wind and revealed a set of empty lounge sofas, far from its regular crowd of guests.

“If you have any intention of speaking with Witch Agatha about Casper, possibly receive a boon, then you can do that over there and not disturb anyone else,” he added. There was a clear warning in his tone.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

“Casper?” Hannah raised a brow and tried to keep her voice in a normal and, hopefully, non-irritating tone. She didn’t want to get on Mr. I-Can-Blow-Your-Guts-Inside-Out’s bad side… even though it was obvious that he already didn’t like her.

Anyhow, his mention of her getting a boon didn’t seem so bad either, did it? At least the guy told Hannah what she could expect out of a conversation from the Witch. No hexes, curses or anything unless she got on the Witch’s bad side, maybe?

But who was Casper again?

“Casper is my cat familiar, remember?” Agatha said helpfully as if she read Hannah's lost expression. She gestured to that beautiful cat that suddenly slinked out from underneath her robes. It prowled around her leg happily and flicked its tail. “The one you lovingly saved from that grotesque creature, if I heard it correctly?”

“Oh.” Hannah nearly forgot about the cat. How could she have forgotten about the cat’s name? “I, uh, yes... I sort of risked my life to save it.”

Louis rolled his eyes and then glanced back at his friend. “I will leave the two of you for now, Witch Agatha. Please do not get yourself in far more trouble.”

“We’re simply going to talk.” Witch Agatha’s eyes sparkled.

“Precisely. No oaths.”

“Ah, ah, then it simply means I can’t make any promises to you.” Witch Agatha stuck her tongue and started to move. She glanced kindly and smiled at Hannah. “Just follow me for now, dear. Louis here will be preparing us some snacks and refreshments.”

“I am not your servant here, Agatha,” Louis flatly said.

“But I am a guest, so you still have to take my orders.” Witch Agatha grinned and carried on without missing a beat. Despite not having any particular strengths obvious to Hannah, somehow, she had an upper hand when it came to certain things.

Hannah immediately tagged after the much more friendly and hospitable Witch.

Although, it was fair to say that the other person, Louis, seemed a lot more straightforward than this Agatha—so it meant she needed to be on her toes. But then she immediately sank into one of the comfortable lounge sofas and nearly forgot why she was here in the first place.

“This is amazing.” Hannah didn’t quite remove her backpack or let go of her bat, but she still felt the luxuriating comfort and feel of the sofa. Her lips broke into a smile and thought that if she was going to end up poisoned by Louis’ food—well, at least she was going to die in an awesome chair.

She was almost moved to tears.

Not that Hannah could cry or show any weakness whatsoever. She couldn’t be too emotional or let her guard down, so she immediately cleared her throat and paid attention to Casper prowling by his mistress’ feet, and then fished out a compliment.

“Casper has really beautiful black fur,” Hannah said. Yes, that was something intelligible and even smart—compliment the cat. That seemed like a good direction for her to go in, right? She raised her head a little and met Witch Agatha’s gaze.

She actually looked unimpressed, and it was almost like she instantly dropped the Good Witch facade, and actually revealed that she had been a Wicked Witch all along? No? Yes? Witch Agatha’s next words were telling of how she actually felt.

“It’s hard to figure out what Casper exactly saw in you because I’ve already had my fair share of individuals who try to get in my good graces via praising my cat,” Witch Agatha said.

Hannah winced, but didn’t immediately get evicted. Instead, she watched Witch Agatha gently rest her foot on top of the feline. “But I suppose it’s better than trying to compliment me, as some degenerates once did.”

“Degenerates?” Hannah looked at her in confusion.

The sound of soft bells suddenly clinked inside of the room and Witch Agatha threw her a wry grin. “How long has it been since you’ve seen one of your kind, Hannah?”